Florida Personal Injury Attorney: Are Rural Roads More Dangerous?

Although it may run contrary to what many of us would expect, a recent study has found that rural roads in Florida and throughout the country are more dangerous than all other roads.

In fact, researchers with the nonprofit transportation research group TRIP concluded that traffic fatalities on the nation’s rural roads occur at a rate more than three times higher than all other roads. Overall, accidents on rural roads resulted in 17,075 fatalities in 2009, accounting for more than half of the nation’s 33,808 traffic deaths in 2009.

As Florida personal injury attorneys, we are particularly concerned that Florida had the fourth highest number of rural non-Interstate traffic deaths in 2009 with 906. In addition, the study found that Florida’s rate of rural non-Interstate traffic fatalities per 100 million miles of travel in 2009 was 3.47, compared to 0.98 for all other roads.

According to the study, inadequate roadway safety design, longer emergency vehicle response times, and the higher speeds traveled on rural roads compared to urban roads all contribute to the higher traffic fatality rate found on rural routes.

In 2009, 34 percent of all fatal crashes on non-Interstate rural roads involved a vehicle leaving the roadway, whereas only 21 percent of fatal traffic crashes on all other routes involved a vehicle leaving the roadway.

In 2009, vehicles driving on rural roads were nearly twice as likely as vehicles on all other roads to be involved in a fatal traffic accident while attempting to negotiate curves. In 2009, 23 percent of all vehicle occupants killed in rural, non-Interstate crashes involved a vehicle attempting to negotiate a curve, while only 12 percent of vehicle occupants killed in all other crashes involved a vehicle attempting to negotiate a curve.

Vehicles driving on non-Interstate rural roads are far more likely than vehicles traveling on all other roads to be involved in a fatal head-on collision. In 2009, 15 percent of rural fatal multi-vehicle crashes were head-on collisions, compared to eight percent of all other traffic crashes.

Most head-on crashes on rural, non-Interstate roads are likely caused by a motorist making an unintentional maneuver as a result of driver fatigue, being distracted, or driving too fast in a curve.

The Dellutri Law Group is focused on making bad situations better and putting lives back together. If you or someone you love has been seriously injured in a Florida car accident caused by someone else’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation.